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The thing that seems super strange to me is that they don't seem to have warned people they would do this, the first comment is > This isn't very helpful, Aman

The thing that seems super strange to me is that they don't seem to have warned people they would do this, the first comment is > This isn't very helpful, Amanda! I know that the wiki wasn't optimal, but there were many wiki pages developers like me had bookmarked for years beacuse they contained comprehensive and easy information, which is now missing. Why not just keep the wiki read-only online? Just to retain the old pages? I'm pretty lost right now without some of these articles and I don't understand why the only option you had was to completely disable it. Please think about opening it up again just for read. I don't care about the maintenance mode, but the wiki was an important learning point, which is now gone. If you don't want to support the wiki that's fine, you don't owe anyone hosting, but if you're going to dump it, atleast give someone the opportunity to scrape the site and host it themselves.

themodelplumber 7y ago
Such a solution presents a bit of a challenge though, given that you'd be 1) broadcasting a security issue, and 2) possibly compounding it by presenting your audience with some really disagreeable news. I can at least see why they'd hesitate to leave things up, depending on the anticipated risk and likelihood of addressing it in reasonable time. Edit: Downvote if it makes you feel better, but this is really how groups execute on problems like this without taking time away from other important projects. "Security issue? Extensive fixes needed? Take it down!"
- djsumdog 7y ago
  wget or other site rippers can just make static content out of it. You can write a script to put a notice/header at the top and host it on nginx .. or an S3 bucket.
- loktarogar 7y ago
  "We're going to shut down the wiki starting xx/xx." Don't need to explain, don't need to make a fuss - just announce and move on.
  - themodelplumber 7y ago
    Doesn't that also just open up a lot more community feedback/pushback? I'm thinking somebody saw it coming in any case and made the call.
    - loktarogar 7y ago
      About as much as we have right now. The difference is people can at least make backups of the content they need.
    - geitir 7y ago
      Hackernews is shutting down in 45 seconds. Please save the pages of any bookmarks now
- vonseel 7y ago
  Can’t you just lock the system down and isolate it enough so the security vulnerability is a non-issue? Certainly there’s an ops solution to things like this.
- tomc1985 7y ago
  They could provide a the public or a trusted third-party with a database dump, or put it on a separate hosting service. With a bit of effort either course would relieve them of security concerns
- csdreamer7 7y ago
  I do not think your comment deserved to be down voted. That may have very well been their line of thought. But I also think loktarogar provided a better solution. And that is what a discussion forum is for.
c3534l 7y ago
Lesson I've long learned: never bookmark anything. Bookmarks are to temporarily remember a URL, not to archive content. If the content is important or meaningful to you, save the page.
- ben0x539 7y ago
  im surprised at myself for shilling a service i dont even use and dont have any stake in, but https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/ lets you bookmark things and then also archive those things so they dont go away
  - jimmaswell 7y ago
    That site could do the same thing as the wiki.
    - MaxBarraclough 7y ago
      Not impossible, but it's a big part of how the site makes money.
    - goatsi 7y ago
      You can download a complete archive of all the bookmarks and pages: https://alexwlchan.net/2017/07/backing-up-pinboard-archives/ https://alexwlchan.net/2017/07/backing-up-pinboard-archives/
      - miladiir 7y ago
        I tried this in the past, but could not even get it to compile. Can you share your working setup, or have you just found this?
- JeremyNT 7y ago
  Yes this. Grab the 'singlefile' add-on[0] and train yourself to hit that instead of bookmarking. You'll be much happier if you ever need the information again! [0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/

themodelplumber 7y ago

Such a solution presents a bit of a challenge though, given that you'd be 1) broadcasting a security issue, and 2) possibly compounding it by presenting your audience with some really disagreeable news. I can at least see why they'd hesitate to leave things up, depending on the anticipated risk and likelihood of addressing it in reasonable time. Edit: Downvote if it makes you feel better, but this is really how groups execute on problems like this without taking time away from other important projects. "Security issue? Extensive fixes needed? Take it down!"

djsumdog 7y ago
wget or other site rippers can just make static content out of it. You can write a script to put a notice/header at the top and host it on nginx .. or an S3 bucket.
loktarogar 7y ago
"We're going to shut down the wiki starting xx/xx." Don't need to explain, don't need to make a fuss - just announce and move on.
- themodelplumber 7y ago
  Doesn't that also just open up a lot more community feedback/pushback? I'm thinking somebody saw it coming in any case and made the call.
  - loktarogar 7y ago
    About as much as we have right now. The difference is people can at least make backups of the content they need.
  - geitir 7y ago
    Hackernews is shutting down in 45 seconds. Please save the pages of any bookmarks now
vonseel 7y ago
Can’t you just lock the system down and isolate it enough so the security vulnerability is a non-issue? Certainly there’s an ops solution to things like this.
tomc1985 7y ago
They could provide a the public or a trusted third-party with a database dump, or put it on a separate hosting service. With a bit of effort either course would relieve them of security concerns
csdreamer7 7y ago
I do not think your comment deserved to be down voted. That may have very well been their line of thought. But I also think loktarogar provided a better solution. And that is what a discussion forum is for.

c3534l 7y ago

Lesson I've long learned: never bookmark anything. Bookmarks are to temporarily remember a URL, not to archive content. If the content is important or meaningful to you, save the page.

ben0x539 7y ago
im surprised at myself for shilling a service i dont even use and dont have any stake in, but https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/ lets you bookmark things and then also archive those things so they dont go away
- jimmaswell 7y ago
  That site could do the same thing as the wiki.
  - MaxBarraclough 7y ago
    Not impossible, but it's a big part of how the site makes money.
  - goatsi 7y ago
    You can download a complete archive of all the bookmarks and pages: https://alexwlchan.net/2017/07/backing-up-pinboard-archives/ https://alexwlchan.net/2017/07/backing-up-pinboard-archives/
    - miladiir 7y ago
      I tried this in the past, but could not even get it to compile. Can you share your working setup, or have you just found this?
JeremyNT 7y ago
Yes this. Grab the 'singlefile' add-on[0] and train yourself to hit that instead of bookmarking. You'll be much happier if you ever need the information again! [0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/